Chapter 11 - Derrin

Derrin Shepard held on for dear life as his Hammerhead swirled around the screaming Reaper. The craft had been modified, sporting a railgun. Despite the larger firepower, the Hammerhead was still maneuverable. Derrin was duly grateful. Beside him, Thane was stoic, as always, biding his time for attack. Helena was piloting the Hammerhead like a mad Banshee, whooping as she ran circles around the Reaper. In the gunner's seat, Ashley was firing with breathless focus. Mirroring their movements, Tali piloted another modified Hammerhead, Jack in the passenger's seat, as Revenant manned the cannon.

Jack was hooting her approval, "let me at the bastard already!"

Tali shook her head, "are we sure this plan will work?"

Thane answered over the intercom, "the theory is sound, and we need to buy time for Xen to evacuate the refugees."

"Dammit Shepard," cursed Ashley, "taking a thresher maw on foot was foolish…but a damn Reaper?!"

"Quit yer bitchin'!" shouted Jack, "are you ready for me?"

As the Hammerheads had been circling the Reaper, they had targeted a precise spot on the monster, just above a joint on the central dome. Revenant notified them when a visible crack appeared along the outer hull of the beast.

"Here goes nothing," shouted Helena, as she gunned the thrusters of the Hammerhead.

Tali's Hammerhead followed suit. Both vehicles launched concerted attacks, cracking the hull of the Reaper wider, and blinding it with a barrage of fire. With a cry, all the biotics leaped out of the vehicles. Jack was the first to jump, plummeting through the air towards the crack. She let out a cry of pure rage, as a Biotic Rush charged her towards the crack. With the force of a hurricane, Jack tore through the rent in the Reaper's shell, opening the path for Shepard and Thane behind her. All three landed with shuddering thuds. Derrin had to gather himself for a moment after the freefall.

"You alive?" asked Tali.

"Never better!" laughed Jack.

"If the timing had been off, you would have been paste!" shouted Ashley.

"Lucky for us then," said Derrin, "keep running interference, we'll take out the central core."

With a manic grin, Jack rushed through the bulkheads of the Reaper's interior, tearing through with reckless abandon. Shepard and Thane flanked her, and the tide of biotics flowed and reacted, resulting in massive explosions that crushed the husks that tried to attack them. Soon enough, they reached a reactor core, which consisted of two gyroscopes around a blinding blue ball of Element Zero.

Derrin pointed at the glowing orb, "you take both axes, hold them still."

Thane guarded them as they worked, and the metal of the reactor core warped, the spinning gyros drawing to a halt. Jack nodded, as Shepard drew a weapon from his back. It was a black cylinder, with red circuitry glowing angrily throughout the chassis.

"Hurry up," Jack groaned, "it's like holding a fucking train…what's that?"

"Blackstorm singularity projector," said Shepard, "we're going to overload this thing, and run like hell. When it reaches critical mass, it'll react with the eezo core, and the resulting implosion will turn this Reaper into a crater."

"Kinky…hurry it up then," Jack grunted.

Derrin set the charge, and threw it into the eezo core. With a relieved gasp, Jack let go of the gyros. The gravitational forces reasserted themselves as the gyros spun, drawing the Blackstorm into the center of the reactor. Jack wiped at her mouth with the back of an arm, spitting out blood.

"You alright?" asked Thane.

"I'll be fine once we get the fuck out of here!"

Shepard nodded, "let's go."

As they reached the opening again, all three soldiers charged forwards in a Biotic Rush, leaping as far away from the Reaper as possible. Shepard and Thane slowed their fall downwards with biotic Pushes, as the Hammerheads continued to run interference.

"That's it!" shouted Derrin, "pick us up and fall back!"

The two vehicles drew beside the biotics, and they grabbed onto the sides of the ships, as the craft jetted away from the Reaper. The beast let out a cry, as a bright blue flame erupted from its insides, devouring the hull of the beast like kindling. The Reaper's shell crumpled, caving inwards, as an implosion destroyed the beast from within. It toppled over, as a crater a third the length of the Reaper appeared along its shell, silencing it forever. The Hammerheads stopped moving, and Shepard jumped off, finally allowing himself a moment to breath. Jack drew up beside him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Crazy bastard," she said breathlessly, "remind me never to piss you off."

"Coming from you," laughed Shepard, "that's high praise Jack."

He turned as the others drew close. Derrin sighed deeply again, catching the note of concern in Ashley's face. He nodded, grasping her hand. They both turned as Tali walked up to them, her face still confused.

"So, care to explain what's going on?" she demanded.

"Let's get everyone aboard the Saxon first," said Shepard.

"We should probably head back to Aria," suggested Helena, "no offense, but I trust her more than…Maya."

"She did bring us back," offered Ashley, "you think she'll double-cross us?"

"Maya Brooks?" said Tali, "trusting her has proven…unwise before."

"Yes," said Thane, "but it's clear that she's not management…and it's unlikely we could get her to divulge anything to us."

"Good points, we take the refugees with us, perhaps Aria has resources to help," said Shepard, "and there will be plenty of time to explain things on the way to Omega."

Author's Note: Figured I'd put the note here, as it's one of the shorter chapters. At any rate, I am posting this story in increments of 6 chapters. I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far. Per my current pace, the story should be finished posting in 2-3 updates, so there's still time for improvement. Of course, life shenanigans take precedence, but I look forward to writing more! Please feel free to leave some feedback, and I'd be happy adjust the story if I find an idea I really like!